How to link base inventory to multiple product SKU's

[Lew-DAYDWELLER]

PS - 'Connected Inventory' App seems to do exactly what we're after, but I don't really want to have to pay for a solution.. must be a simipler option 

We sell clothing items, made to order, lots of different designs on 15 approx base garments..

for example:

Black tees (S/M/L/XL/2XL/3XL/4XL/5XL)

25 different designs that can be printed

I want to put the inventory as (for example):

Black Tee

Small x 15 in stock

But if someone orders 1 product design, in a small black tee, it takes 1 off the stock level.
If they then order a different product design, in a small black tee, it takes another 1 off the base stock level.

If not, I have to put (for example) 3 in stock per design, which isn't true.

Does this make sense? 

I want to have the base garment stock level managed, and if the base garment runs out, ALL of the products run out in that size, and also if ANY of the designs are ordered, it updates the base stock level / the stock level of all products in that variant...

Hope that makes sense! 

Thanks 🙂

[productsync]

Hi

This is a common issue for our users where they want to limit number of designs sold or want to manage by shirt base stock. What you do is use a backend driven app Bundleup to link all the component SKUs for each variation. So if your case you would have a unique SKU for your design that is then linked to each variation along with the size & color of the shirt SKU stock. You then only have to set the stock of your design and shirt SKUs as our app will calculate what stock should be set for each variation.

The app has 2 main features that would let you manage the variation inventory levels. 

1. Inventory Management

Bundleup lets you connect up your products to components and it then updates the inventory based on the component stock level. So when one shirt size stock goes to zero the other linked variations will also update to zero. So if you have multiple designs across different sets of variations but use the same shirt stock this updates them all.

2. Order Fulfilment

When you sell one of these products the stock level won't reduce automatically. What Bundleup does is update the order post purchase by replacing the order line with the component SKUs as order lines which then reduces their stock. This then feeds into point 1 above where it updates all linked products.

We also offer a bulk csv file upload option so it is quicker to map all variants rather than doing them one by one in admin.

One issue you may encounter (if you didn't know already) is the number of shirt size and designs as Shopify limit has a cap of 100 variations. You may need to split your designs across different products to get under this.

If you need help in setting up and testing please get in touch. You can also find our guide here:

https://help.channelup.com.au/hc/en-us/articles/900004620086

Regards

Tom

[Lew-DAYDWELLER]

Thanks for this. 

Can you confirm / show an example of how the overall stock view will look? And is there anything in regards to showing alerts for minimum stock levels in case base stock gets too low? Thanks, Lew

[productsync]

Hi Lew

In terms of bundles they are updated every few minutes from sales data so that any linked component stock changes get reflected on bundle inventory. 

We have separate app for restock alerts and you can contact us to see if this would be useful for what you are after. Otherwise you can run inventory reports in Shopify to check what is out of stock or low.

Regards

Sam

[EasifyApps-Zoe]

Hi @Lew-DAYDWELLER,

I'd like to suggest a simple solution using the Easify Product Options app (free plan). This app allows you to efficiently manage your 25 designs as custom options for your Black tee product without having to create them as separate Shopify variants, thus avoiding unnecessary inventory complexity.

Here's a quick guide on how to set it up 😊:

• Create your Black tee product, specifying quantities for each size as needed. There's no need to add the 25 designs as separate options and variants.

• Install the app and set up an option set:

• Add an option for customers to choose from the 25 designs, utilizing Image Swatches or any other option display type you prefer:

• Incorporate the design options into your Black tee product:

With this setup, your configuration will be streamlined and won't affect the inventory of your Black tee product 👍. 

[Inky_Doodles]

I have just installed the app, I would looking to make product bundles / or have 1 item Eg Pink binder, which available as a standalone item, or bundled together, but I would need to monitor stock levels via SKUs, how does this work?